Several returning winners back to defend Drake titles; Sailors seek new volleyball admiral; Heelan and East best in Sioux City track.
By Bob Bakken
MaxPreps.com
Track: Returning Champions Highlight Drake Relays Field
Several returning champions will be back to defend their titles at the high school portion of the Drake Relays, held in Des Moines April 24-26.
On the boys’ side, Pleasant Valley’s Blake Irwin will look to become the first repeat winner in the Drake Relays 1,600 meter run since Mason City’s Tom Caughlan in the late 1990’s. Irwin was last year’s most outstanding high school boys’ athlete at Drake.
Other boys seeking repeat titles at Drake this year include Indianola’s Noah Kitelson in the high jump, Burlington’s Jarred Herring in the 100-meter dash, and Kellyn Fogarty of Marshalltown in the 400-meter hurdles.
The girls' division at the Drake Relays will have 10 returning titlists from last year’s meet. They are led by returning record holders Taylor Freeman of Iowa City West in the discus and West Des Moines Dowling’s Katie Flood in the 3,000 meter run.
Others back to defend championships won at the Drake Relays include Jennifer Jorgenson of Southeast Webster-Grand in the long jump, Des Moines Hoover’s Gretchen Lamar in the 100-meter dash, A.G. Bradford of Davenport North in the 100-meter hurdles, and Blaire Dinsdale of North Tama in the 400-hurdles.
Volleyball: Waterloo Columbus Volleyball Coach Resigns
Waterloo Columbus is looking for a new volleyball coach after the resignation of Kenny Frost, who is leaving after coaching the Sailors for eight seasons and four-straight state tournament appearances.
“This is just a temporary thing. For right now, I just want to be a father and a fan. I haven’t been that in a long time," Frost told the Cedar Falls Courier.
The outgoing coach of the Sailor volleyball program has a daughter, Kaity, who will be playing for the University of Indianapolis, a Division II school. She was an all-state selection for the Sailors. He says he can’t put his “heart and soul” into the volleyball program, while his daughter is competing in college, but adds when that part of his life is done, he’ll be returning to coach volleyball elsewhere.
Under Frost, Columbus won three straight WaMaC Conference titles and reached the 2006 state championship game, before losing in the finals to Hull-Western Christian.
“Kenny has done an outstanding job with our volleyball program. He has taken us to the highest level. He is another coach who will be greatly missed," Columbus athletic director Aundra Meeks said.
Meeks is already looking for new basketball coaches, as boys basketball coach Jim Berry and girls basketball coach Mark Sinnwell have already elected to resign.
Track: Heelan Boys, East Girls Win Sioux City Titles
The Heelan boys and East girls showed they were the best track teams in Sioux City on Tuesday night when the city championships were held at Olsen Stadium.
The Heelan boys’ team won the team title for the 16th time in the last 19 years. The Crusaders won 12 of 18 events in out-pointing West 179-99. Heelan’s Brandon Wegher won the 100 and 200 meter dashes, and was also on two relay team titles, the 4x100 and 4x400 relays.
At the same time, the East girls’ team claimed the team championship for the first time in 27 years. One reason for the long period of time between titles was that a city girls’ track championship was not contested for sixteen years, a layoff that started a year after the Black Raiders won the championship in 1981. It’s actually the first win for the Raiders in 11 contested city meets, since it was resumed in 1998.
Black Raider freshman Shelby Houlihan swept the 800, 1,500, and three-thousand meter runs. Her 4:55.59 time in the 1,500 meter run likely qualified for her the upcoming Drake Relays in Des Moines. She was also on a meet-winning sprint medley relay team for the Raiders.
Track: Kuckelman Paces Keokuk in Fort Madison Relays
Anna Kuckelman is proving to be one of the leaders on this year’s Keokuk Chiefs girls’ track team.
This week, Kuckelman set a school record in the discus during the Pen City Relays in Fort Madison with a toss of 114-6, besting the old 2002 record by over five feet.
Earlier in the season, Kuckelman set a new school mark in the shot put. At Fort Madison, Kuckelman finished third with a toss of 30-2.
Morgan Kayvan won two events for the Chiefs at Fort Madison, taking the 1500-meter run in a time of 5:12.10, and the 3000-meter run in 11:17.20.
The Chiefs also won a pair of relays, the sprint medley and 4x400 meter relay.
